WINONA, Minn. -- Keith Bateman claimed his 300th win as head coach of the Augsburg University baseball team in the last game of the season, as his Auggies split with Saint Mary's University in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference playoff play-in series, on Sunday afternoon. Sainy Mary's won the best-of-three series and will advance to the MIAC playoffs. 

THE BASICS
SCORE: Saint Mary's 7, Augsburg 1; Augsburg 6, Saint Mary's 1
LOCATION: Max Molock Field, Winona, Minn.
RECORD: Augsburg 8-26 overall, Saint Mary's 25-13 overall 

GAME 1 HIGHLIGHTS
• Saint Mary's scored two runs in the fourth inning and held the Auggies scoreless until the seventh inning, when Augsburg scored its lone run of the game. The Cardinals added five more runs in the bottom half of the seventh and closed out the game, earning the 7-1 win and advancing to the MIAC playoffs. 
• Augsburg had four hits in the game, two of which came in the seventh inning. Clint Mattson (SO, North Branch, Minn./North Branch HS) started the inning with a single through the right side. Mattson advanced to third after a Connor Stoik (SO, Eau Claire, Wis./Eau Claire Memorial HS) walk and a sacrifice bunt by Michael Weiss (SO, Marion, Iowa/Linn-Mar HS). Jack Baumgart (JR, Willmar, Minn./Willmar HS) then hit a RBI infield-single, scoring Mattson. 
• Steven Salz (SO, Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove HS) and Reilly Nolin (SR, Rice Lake, Wis./Rice Lake HS) accounted for the Auggies' other two hits, both singles. 
• Three Auggies saw the pitching mound, with Mathew Nicklay (SR, Hastings, Minn./Hastings HS) getting the start and suffering the loss. 

GAME 2 HIGHLIGHTS
• After being held to nine hits in the first two play-in games combined, the Augsburg bats came alive collecting nine hits in the game, scoring six runs in the season-finale victory.
• The Auggie scoring started early, taking a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Salz hit his fourth home run of the year, a two-RBI blast to left center, plating Weiss as well. Josh Tyler (SR, Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove HS) singled to right field but was left stranded. 
• St. Mary's lone run came in the second inning, an unearned run off an Augsburg error. 
• Augsburg added two runs in the third inning, taking a 4-1 lead. Weiss started the inning off with a lead-off single to right center, followed by another single off the bat of Tyler. Kyle Hoppe (SR, Andover, Minn./Andover HS) then hit a two-out single to right field, scoring Weiss and Tyler. 
• In the seventh inning, Augsburg added two more runs, both unearned. Tyler singled through the right side, scoring Weiss; and then Salz scored on a Cardinal throwing error. 
• The other three Augsburg hits came from the bats of the Gage brothers. Kaden Gage (JR, Eagan, Minn./Eagan HS) had two singles, while Ty Gage (FY, Eagan, Minn./Eagan HS) hit one single.
• John Retterath (SO, Excelsior, Minn./Minnetonka HS) picked up his first win of the season, giving up only one run on two hits and striking out two batters, in five innings pitched. Lukas Nyberg (SO, St. Cloud, Minn./Apollo HS) and Cam Fischer (FY, Becker, Minn./Becker HS) both pitched one inning of relief.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE
• In his 18th year at Augsburg, Bateman is now 300-346-1 in his coaching career.

FOR THE FOES 
• In game one, Andy Tepp finished 2-for-3, hitting a double and a triple, earning three RBI and scoring one run. Taylor Anderson had two RBI and scored a Cardinal run, going 3-for-4 on the day. 
• Ryan Wolfe picked up the win in game one, giving up one run on three hits while striking out four Auggie batters, in seven innings of work.